Photo Mechanic Version 5 User Manual: Comments thread

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

I then tried it with IE and it came up with the 153 pages but only at 5.8mb and it looks as though various boxes are missing. A copy is attached.

The PDF that you attached did not seem to have missing images when I looked at it. There is some occasional whitespace where a screenshot has to show up on a following page (For example  page 4 of your PDF, page 20 etc), but from what I can tell, no information is actually absent.   I know the page is not 100% perfect when printed in this way, but we do hope it is usable.  And, it is certain to be current. 

- Mick

[judophotos]

Okay, just checked.

Page 20 seemed to be missing something but checked and all is there. If the PDF is complete I can work with that for now.

Keep up the good work.
David

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

I put together a page in the manual itself with tips on printing and saving sections of the manual as a PDF.  I've also included an example PDF of the whole manual for folks who are unable to generate that with their browser.

Thanks for the feedback!

http://wiki.camerabits.com/en/index.php?title=Printing_the_Manual

-Mick

[judophotos]

That'is fine and a lot better they the one I converted to PDF.

But then it is 4 times larger and will therefore be slower on my mobile phone

You can't win all the time.
David

[Hayo Baan]

Hmm, ok, you can get a pdf out of the wiki for off-line reading / printing. It doesn't even look too bad either. However, in my opinion this still isn't a real manual, and certainly not the way I would like to see it.

• It doesn't have a proper table of contents
• It doesn't have an index
• It doesn't have any clickable links
• It has layout issues (e.g., loose headers, widow & orphan lines, etc.)

So basically, I don't think the wiki is a proper replacement of a user manual.

So again, please (also?) create a proper pdf version of the manual. I'm sure the wiki format has its advantages for you, but I honestly don't see them (from a user perspective)…

Many thanks,
Hayo

[Luiz Muzzi]

Hmm, ok, you can get a pdf out of the wiki for off-line reading / printing. It doesn't even look too bad either. However, in my opinion this still isn't a real manual, and certainly not the way I would like to see it.

• It doesn't have a proper table of contents
• It doesn't have an index
• It doesn't have any clickable links
• It has layout issues (e.g., loose headers, widow & orphan lines, etc.)

So basically, I don't think the wiki is a proper replacement of a user manual.

So again, please (also?) create a proper pdf version of the manual. I'm sure the wiki format has its advantages for you, but I honestly don't see them (from a user perspective)…

Many thanks,
Hayo

Another vote for the creation of a proper version of the manual (as stated by Hayo above).
TIA

-Luiz Muzzi

[Kirk Baker]

Hayo,

So again, please (also?) create a proper pdf version of the manual. I'm sure the wiki format has its advantages for you, but I honestly don't see them (from a user perspective)…

The benefits for me personally is that it is very useful for directing users with questions that arise again and again to a specific topic in the manual that answers their question.  I can't do that easily with a PDF manual.  The user has to first download the manual and then I have to describe a page number and paragraph.

This savings in time and efficiency allows me to spend more time working on Photo Mechanic and Catalog.

It may not be best for offline reference however.

As converted to a PDF it definitely is lacking compared to a purpose-built PDF document.

-Kirk

[Mick O (Camera Bits)]

• It doesn't have a proper table of contents
• It doesn't have an index
• It doesn't have any clickable links
• It has layout issues (e.g., loose headers, widow & orphan lines, etc.)

So basically, I don't think the wiki is a proper replacement of a user manual.

Would a downloadable full hypertext version alleviate any of your difficulties? This is something you could view offline, and get clickable links within the manual, allowing you to use the full table of contents.  This is something we could provide if it would benefit you.

[Hayo Baan]

The benefits for me personally is that it is very useful for directing users with questions that arise again and again to a specific topic in the manual that answers their question.  I can't do that easily with a PDF manual.  The user has to first download the manual and then I have to describe a page number and paragraph.

This savings in time and efficiency allows me to spend more time working on Photo Mechanic and Catalog.

Ah, that makes perfect sense and in that respect the wiki is definitely a good implementation of the manual.

It may not be best for offline reference however.

As converted to a PDF it definitely is lacking compared to a purpose-built PDF document.

Yes, exactly.

• It doesn't have a proper table of contents
• It doesn't have an index
• It doesn't have any clickable links
• It has layout issues (e.g., loose headers, widow & orphan lines, etc.)

So basically, I don't think the wiki is a proper replacement of a user manual.

Would a downloadable full hypertext version alleviate any of your difficulties? This is something you could view offline, and get clickable links within the manual, allowing you to use the full table of contents.  This is something we could provide if it would benefit you.

Hi Mick,
This would, I think, only solve the problem of non-clickable links, not any of the other items.
Anyway, to be honest I seldom need the manual (I know my way around PM pretty well, I believe), so in that sense it has no urgency for me. However, I do like to be able to browse through a manual, and having a proper table of contents and index does help here.

[Luiz Muzzi]

Hayo,

So again, please (also?) create a proper pdf version of the manual. I'm sure the wiki format has its advantages for you, but I honestly don't see them (from a user perspective)…

The benefits for me personally is that it is very useful for directing users with questions that arise again and again to a specific topic in the manual that answers their question.  I can't do that easily with a PDF manual.  The user has to first download the manual and then I have to describe a page number and paragraph.

This savings in time and efficiency allows me to spend more time working on Photo Mechanic and Catalog.

It may not be best for offline reference however.

As converted to a PDF it definitely is lacking compared to a purpose-built PDF document.

-Kirk

Well...I see. I understand that it makes redirecting much easier.
As for me, it is not urgent either, but I like to read manuals on my ipad (what a strange pastime, is it not?), like camera manuals, etc.
Regards,

-Luiz Muzzi

[Boatguy]

I completely understand how the wiki is more effective for Kirk, but I do like to have access to the manual from my iPad when offline.

I downloaded the wiki onto my computer and was able to browse it offline with no problem so that is half way there.  However, I'm unable to figure out how to do it on my iPad.  No luck using Good Reader.

Anyone have a suggestion on how the downloaded wiki can be read offline on an iPad?

[Kirk Baker]

I completely understand how the wiki is more effective for Kirk, but I do like to have access to the manual from my iPad when offline.

I downloaded the wiki onto my computer and was able to browse it offline with no problem so that is half way there.  However, I'm unable to figure out how to do it on my iPad.  No luck using Good Reader.

Anyone have a suggestion on how the downloaded wiki can be read offline on an iPad?

Is there some way to save a web page as a "web archive" on the iPad?  If so, browse this version of the manual and save it as a web archive for later viewing:

http://wiki.camerabits.com/en/index.php?title=User_Manual_Flat_View

HTH,

-Kirk

[Boatguy]

On a Mac, I save that link to a web archive and I also printed it to a PDF (see attached) and transferred them to an iPad with both GoodReader (direct sync) and SugarSync.

I couldn't figure out how to open the web archive in Safari on the iPad.

I was able to open both the web archive and the PDF with GoodReader.  The PDF is slightly preferable as it searchable and there is a scrubber for moving quickly through the pages.  The embedded links are URLs and don't work if offline, but the document is usable.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Luiz Muzzi]

On a Mac, I save that link to a web archive and I also printed it to a PDF (see attached) and transferred them to an iPad with both GoodReader (direct sync) and SugarSync.

I couldn't figure out how to open the web archive in Safari on the iPad.

I was able to open both the web archive and the PDF with GoodReader.  The PDF is slightly preferable as it searchable and there is a scrubber for moving quickly through the pages.  The embedded links are URLs and don't work if offline, but the document is usable.

Hi,
Thanks for the file.
As I don't have these sync programs, I have "emailed it to myself", then opened mail in iPad and saved it into ibooks.
Regards,

-Luiz Muzzi

[Soizic]

Thanks Boatguy for the manual.